Man arrested in Oceanside hate crime

OCEANSIDE —— Police arrested a 21-year-old San Diego man on
suspicion of stabbing an 18-year-old Oceanside man in a hate-crime
attack, Oceanside police Sgt. Leonard Mata said Tuesday. The victim
is expected to recover, he said.

Police responded just before 8 p.m. Monday to a fight involving
up to a dozen people the 100 block of South The Strand, Mata said.
Officers found the victim but the others had fled, he said.

A short time later, police arrested the suspect at the Beach
Community Center in connection with the attack, Mata said. Police
did not release the suspect's name.

The victim, who suffered a single stab wound, was taken by Mercy
Air ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla for treatment,
fire Capt. David Snyder said.

The suspect was booked into the Vista jail on suspicion of
attempted murder, resisting arrest, a hate crime, and battery, Mata
said. Police were trying to find other people involved in the
crime.

Officers were told that a group of white men approached a group
of black men on Pacific Street near the pier and accused them of
throwing something at their truck, Mata said. The white males were
using racial slurs, he said.

The groups then went to The Strand and began fighting, Mata
said. After the fight broke up, the victim moved to the stairs near
the pier where the suspect stabbed him, the sergeant said.